Côte de Nuits

This is one of the parcels that Cyprien and his team farm organically all year round and harvest themselves, under the négociant label. It is an excellent village lieu-dit at the southern end of Vosne, which a number of growers choose to bottle separately. It shows typical Vosne energy and power, with a bright length, and plenty in reserve.

This vineyard is at the north end of the village, on the border with grand cru, Mazoyères-Chambertin. The soils are high in limestone, and produce a wine that is rich in dark wild berries and clove spice, with a lean and persistent freshness.

This comes from various parcels the domaine owns around the village, mostly located on the Morey side. It shows a certain austerity, mingled with Chambolle’s signature texture: silky, dense, and refined.

This is a clear stand-out in the Arlaud cellar. It’s the most dramatic wine in the line up, outpacing the other grand cru with its grip and swagger. A truly great Clos de la Roche.

This comes from the very highest point of Mazoyères-Chambertin, which can also be labelled as Charmes-Chambertin. It has sensational volume with a crystalline purity driving through the finish.

Cyprien makes two Bourgognes, and this is the one that comes from the domaine’s single parcel which lies just beyond the village boundary of Gevrey-Chambertin, but a stone’s throw from the village’s grands crus. It is a fairly serious Bourgogne, with an expressive, chewy core to it, offering up the density of Gevrey, with the open fruit to drink well early. A graphite lift on the nose adds extra interest.

This vineyard sits just below Clos St-Denis, in the heart of the village, and offers up a deep and textured expression of Morey-St-Denis. It has an ethereal minty lift to the fruit. Good balance in its length.

This always delivers huge complexity from the start. It is so deep, and with such a sustained finish you’ll be thinking about it long after tasting.

This always delivers huge complexity from the start. It is so deep, and with such a sustained finish you’ll be thinking about it long after tasting.

Rousseau’s Gevrey might be their least grand cuvée, but it remains nevertheless one of the most sought-after wines, and a window onto their supreme style which can be drunk a little earlier than their premiers and grands crus.

Lavaux St Jacques is a lovely vineyard on the Combe de Lavaux which enjoys the cooling influence of the cold air drawn down the valley. The wine is chiselled and precise.

The Ruchottes always abounds with small red berry fruit, making it a lively and vibrant grand cru. It nevertheless has the gravitas of its grand cru status, and will evolved for many years in bottle.

Only five domaines own Clos St Jacques, and Rousseau’s wine is frequently at the pinnacle. This shows the complexity, suave power, and finesse of a grand cru, with incredible freshness.

Amélie has only been making this wine since 2022. It comes from young vines, and she’s the first to admit she doesn’t take things too seriously here. The wine is quenching and juicy, up-front and uncomplicated.

With Richebourg and Cros Parantoux as neighbours, you can expect great things from this vineyard. Amélie has five separate plots across half a hectare (although she gives some of the production back to her aunt, so there is never ever enough to meet demand). The site is so steep and inaccessible that no tractors can reach it, and all work is done by horse or hand. She’s worked hard on this cuvée, which can tend towards reduction. Switching to concrete tanks for fermentation has helped, and the wine is now meeting its full potential.

This was one of the cuvées that Amélie completely de-stemmed in 2024. It is drawn from two plots: Aux Réas and La Rivière. The wine is beautifully balanced, with a velvet-Vosne texture and a cherry kick on the finish. Seamless.

Amelie’s 0.13 ha parcel was planted in 1973, and sits up close to Clos Saint Jacques. The famously cooling wind of the Combe de Lavaut helps this parcel through the wet growing season, and the fruit it yielded is really something wonderful. This is highly accomplished.

This was a highlight in Amélie ‘s cellar this year. She’s currently replanting one plot, so in 2024 all the fruit in the cuvée comes from Combe de Dessus. She used 40% whole-bunch fruit here, and the result is a lively, juicy, up-front Gevrey with the length and quiet power to stay the course.

The wine is fragrant and dancing, complex with agile freshness and sweet energy. The holdings of Les Clos have been in Amélie’s family since the late 19th century. It’s a 1.3 hectare, mid-slope plot on south-east facing limestone and marl soils. The oldest vines here were planted in 1933, and the complexity of old vine fruit is evident in the glass.

Fixin doesn’t have any grand crus, but in Amélie’s eyes, this is the greatest site in the village. It has very shallow soils, and the vines, now aged 30-80 years old, dig deep. 60% whole-bunch brings a floral, spiced fruit and ethereal structure. Defined, characterful, and the work of a winemaker at the top of her game. Volumes, sadly, drastically down.

Les Crais is a flagship wine at Amélie’s estate, having been bottled separately from the other village parcels since her father’s tenure. The one-hectare vineyard sits right in the heart of the appellation, just below the village itself. Its alluvial soils are well-draining, and the parcel is always one of the first to be picked. Her judicious use of 40% stems works wonders here: bright, vibrant, with tender fruit and lovely purity in the length. This is Fixin at its best.

The 2024 Grasses Têtes is amazingly composed. We were obliged to taste it after the Bonnes Mares as it was the only cuvée that had been racked in autumn 2025. It held its own with an impressive presence in the glass. It is quintessential Marsannay, and quintessential Clair. The domaine has an impressive 10 hectares in their home village of Marsannay. They bottle five separate cuvées, including this wonderful vineyard which sits at the southern end of the commune, on the slope that rises up behind the village. Its quirky name (meaning “fat heads”) refers to the large rocks that show through the surface of the clay soil. It is typically the most structured and powerful of the Clair Marsannays, with the greatest tannic charge, recalling Gevrey-Chambertin. The assiduous handling of the 2024s plays to the innate structure of the vineyard with the elegance of the vintage.

This remarkable village lieu-dit sits directly above Clos de Tart, Clos des Lambrays, and Bonnes Mares, and the Clair parcel is an extension of their lauded Bonnes Mares plot. It’s hard to believe this isn’t a premier cru, really. Up here there is virtually no top soil at all, and the vines plunge straight into the limestone bedrock. The wine has abundant blackberry and wild strawberry aromas, tightly-wound tannins, and a fragrant energy.

This precious site is a family favourite. The vines were planted in 1902, and Arthur’s grandfather purchased the plot in 1952 after tasting its wine blind and mistaking it for a Grand Cru from Gevrey-Chambertin. Its east-facing amphitheatre-like form catches the sun’s rays, and the wine it produces is sappy, concentrated and complex in texture. There’s a clear density from the old vine fruit, and a spiced, poised length.